latest news in the week's top stories egypt's new constitution enshrining islamic law looks set to pass as most voters seemingly back the draft in a referendum preceded by weeks of fierce protests. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with the gun lobby a logic in the senses millions of americans calling for tougher controls as the country pays its final tributes to the infants and teachers gunned down in last week's shooting massacre. and eye for an eye in moscow moving a step closer to banning americans from adopting russian children in response to

washington slapping sanctions on russian officials. no government left unaffected that's what julian assange promises as wiki leaks set to release a million new secret files in two thousand and thirteen. it's four am in moscow i mattress and bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on r t egypt's new constitution appears to have passed a historic vote winning the majority of popular support according to an official tallies the referendum on the islamist backdraft has led to deep divisions within the country and sparked violent protests cairo based journalist bel true has more. the preliminary results are in for egypt's contentious constitutional referendum

egypt appears to voted for the constitution sixty four percent say yes. thirty six percent have said no this comes after mass to send in the streets across the country with a cast three weeks against this constitution opposition forces say mean for the presidential dictatorship and was drafted by an islamist dominated assembly of the twenty seven governors that went to vote in the last week only three voted against the constitution. this in the last round is largely due to the fact that in the last seventeen governments they went to vote a large amount of them are rural governorates who with large muslim brotherhood supports places their opposition forces for their part to say that the reason it is a yes is because of electoral violations they say they've seen a number of instances of possible vote rigging including missing judges and so on supervised polling stations missing ballot papers stuff the ballot boxes and also

campaigning by the muslim brotherhood groups. also ultra conservative salafist groups in the polling stations telling people to vote yes the biggest news of the day however is the resignation of the vice president mohamed mackey this is largely seen to be perhaps because in the draft constitution as it currently stands there is no post for the vice president this comes in the background of deepening violence across the country on friday we saw clashes between rival protest groups limits rallies in egypt second city exams in support of the constitution there was rock throwing and also burning of cars the police had to intervene with tear gas that comes just one week after a similar clashes and xandra and of course three weeks after very bloody scenes here in the capital cairo we saw ten people die in my book. he says streets and fog outside the presidential palace with

a deepening political crisis and one to sign tracking down now the constitution is likely to be put in place we can only expect dissent on the streets and possible violence across the country we spoke with a representative of egypt's opposition for their reaction to the referendum made a warrior from al dost or a party headed by mohamed el baradei thinks that allegations of vote rigging must be investigated this constitution and this around is is a disgrace to a nation that far hard for its freedom and for its rights it's a document that strips ripped out all the all the rights that we've learned and try to constitute a dictatorship and it has been taught by a referendum that was a massive massive rigging for the ballot boxes massive rigging for the voice of the people physically see tens and hundreds of schools tens and hundreds of schools where the ballot boxes and the referendum process was taking place at

a convenient time when when the voices were very all the pool saw that the people were voting no the power was cut off the most about the night of the asked judges and employees and that's called shuts down the school over. the front of the voters and the state with the ballot boxes not overseas for hours and hours we do not recognise any results unless we see a proper investigation and a proper digging through these evidence that we've put and we receive a proper answer from from the high committee of the election. syrian rebels say government airstrikes killed dozens of people waiting in line in a bakery in the hama province as with many previous accusations the claims by the opposition come during a major international push to resolve the conflict this time it's the visit of the u.n. envoy to damascus meanwhile russia's foreign minister has denied claims moscow has plans to offer shelter to president assad sergey lavrov also said that toppling the

current regime won't stop the bloodshed in the country r.t. spoke exclusively to mr lavrov who said there are many forces in syria using tactics banned under international law. groups of the opposition. several which are not united on this single come month the whole series of acceptable methods salute the current through to international humanitarian law. they can close to just. the stage and there is the tax and that is very disheartening that the western clothes in the security council start to refuse. then there has to consider saying that yes there is missing. but you must they conclude come on the overall context of what is going on in syria and why people the result that there was that this it's absolutely unacceptable and this logic might be full of this logic why

do those through a very dangerous situation not only in the middle east but in other parts of the world. who would begin to. want to qualify terrorist as. bed terrorist and acceptable terrorists. still to come out from afghanistan and into the gulf britain planning a military boost in the oil rich region later this hour we'll look at what's at stake for the u.k. in the gulf and where this new build up might be headed boss. no wind in sight for the trouble in europe as thousands of greeks in the spaniards again take to the streets in protest against suffocating austerity cuts. before we get to all of that though it's been a heartbreaking week of farewells in newtown connecticut where all twenty children and six adults have been laid to rest after one of the worst mass shootings in u.s.

history the massacre reignited fierce debate on gun laws critics say current legislation makes it too easy for the public to buy military grade weapons. has more on americans taking a hard look at the second amendment. a week after the tragedy at the elementary school in newtown president obama made the same pledge as when he became president four years ago to try and get assault weapons off the streets of the u.s. it's a pledge he has failed to deliver on this is not the first issue the first incident gone by of your four years. but the administration indicates this time it's different this time they're serious it will take commitment and compromise. and most of all it will take coach shooting the school and it's a school and it's an important part of our hearing the debate taking place at the moment suggests a national consensus on the issue is far down the line and the dialogue between those who support and those who oppose such

a ban comes down to this with guns come safety if the guns are in the hands of the good guys if you not believe the stupid man on the powerful special interest group in washington the national rifle association has successfully fought any form of gun control legislation for years and the solution they offer to the epidemic of gun violence that has plagued the us is more guns. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. constitutional lawyer roger pilon things along the same lines and suggest arming teachers to prevent massacres like the one in newtown connecticut you're always going to have people who are going to be doing these kinds of evil deeds what you need to do is protect yourself against the weapons in schools and you go to a movie theater you have to carry a gun because there there will be there maybe someone with

a semiautomatic you know wiping out the entire theater. as we have seen is that what you're suggesting. where do you put it provocatively like that what i'm suggesting people movie theater yes because the police cannot be everywhere there are almost three hundred million privately owned farms in the u.s. around ten thousand americans die in gun violence every year the gun murder rate in the u.s. is almost twenty times higher than in the next twenty two richest and most populous nations combined. we have three hundred million guns in america but also the population of three hundred million people so it's one gun per person and if more guns were actually the solution to deterring shootings of many times it would have this problem in the first place the gun adam lanza use to kill twenty young children and six adults at the sandy hook elementary school was an a r fifteen

semiautomatic rifle it's a military style rifle that can shoot hundreds of rounds at a record speed it belongs to adams mother who he also murdered nancy lanza a teacher at the same elementary school owned six guns numerous types of assault weapons are readily available for purchase in the u.s. at gun stores at gun shows and online after the newtown tragedy many americans are calling for change again. make it inherently make it worse. because you can't create previous meaningful attempts to change a wall and that wall is the second amendment of the constitution the right of the people to bear arms skeptics say the most the administration can do is require background checks at gun shows but again adam lanza's mother a teacher at an elementary school would have probably passed any of those checks and her military rifle would have ended up in the hands of her son anyway that constitutional lawyer i spoke to seemed very certain that nothing major is going to

change when it comes to gun laws in america does that mean more massacres like the tragedy newtown in washington i'm going to. dot com we're asking what you think can be done to reduce the number of gun fatalities in the u.s. here's how the vote stacks up so far thirty five percent of respondents think the media should be restrained from overhyping the massacres so if you are saying nothing can be done while the second amendment is still in place about a fifth are calling for harsh new gun laws and restrictions and eleven percent propose increasing security in public places have your say by logging on to our dot com and clicking your vote.

we're giving julian assange says about a million secret files are set to be released over the next year he claims information won't leave a single country in the world unscathed assad made the promise during a christmas address to supporters gathered outside the ecuadorian embassy in london the speech marks six months since the whistleblower entered the nation seeking political asylum to avoid extradition he's been there ever since facing immediate arrest if he sets foot outside kristin rossum center from wiki leaks insists assad is predicament more stop the site from it's a drive for truth and transparency. who we know about the ongoing. investigation and the secret grand jury you know sundry in virginia there is. an ongoing attempt to find an angle to bring charges against julian and possibly all

those working for weeklies is a very serious matter of course very shameful for the obama administration not to stop that for the man who was right even taken four years ago to increase transparency and what we have seen is totally the opposite. against whistleblowers. that has no business in history it will continue it work as we have done despite the difficult situation that you has been in in the ecuador embassy now for six months but problems with your house arrest that hasn't stopped once we have continued to work. the economic blockade has not stopped us either even though we are getting into a dire situation financially but the battle that we have decided to turn into all out war until we have a victory there as well in the new year. more stories that shape the week still to come after a short break stay with us. what

do you see when you look at the scroll perhaps you wonder what bright future she'll have or maybe feel sympathy for her because you see she's in a wheelchair but if you're t.s.a. agent then you see hard core terrorist scum finding a small amount of residue from explosives on the girl's hands she was detained for almost an hour and her tears for mercy did not move the inspectors to allow her mother to be with her as they took her away for further inspection so that the t.s.a. agents can put two and two together and realize that people in wheelchairs get all sorts of random stuff on their hands because the wheels they push roll along the ground when will these endless tales of bizarre instance of the t.s.a. stop when will they stop worrying about girls in wheelchairs when will they stop searching under a terminally ill woman's bandages and when will they actually catch a terrorist when you can security feels

a lot more like ridiculous tyranny to me but that's just my opinion. today. again fleda. these are the images from. canada. showing corporations rule. it.

please. please little. i live. wealthy british.

market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's cars or the no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report. thanks for staying with us here on our team eighteen minutes past the hour now there's been a series of tit for tat moves between moscow and washington this week restrictions to stop americans adopting russian children were approved by russia's lower house of parliament the move is intended to put the white house under public pressure to reconsider its sanctions on some russian lawmakers the ban which has split russian public opinion as part of wider legislation meant to target those who abuse the rights of russians abroad it was sparked by washington imposing travel and financial restrictions on russian officials suspected of involvement in the death of lawyer sergey magnitsky he died in custody during a massive tax fraud investigation three years ago president putin though as said

the u.s. should look at its own record before criticizing the human rights records of others . a complete our u.s. partners and their lawmakers say they're concerned about human rights in our prisons and that's fine of course but there are plenty of issues they have themselves abu ghraib and guantanamo where for years people have been detained without charge it's inconceivable to prisoners walk around in chains like in the middle ages legalized torture inside their own country if something like that happened here it would cause an international outcry. and the u.s. we've heard plenty of promises to close guantanamo. but it's still there it's still operating maybe there is still torture going on their secret cia prisons has anyone been brought to account and they're pointing out our problems well thank you we're

aware of that making this the ground for passing anti-abortion laws it's something else heard them and we have a no way provoked such action. and we. meanwhile president vladimir putin has arrived in new delhi on an official visit to india the russian leader will meet with our country's prime minister and other officials to discuss cooperation between the two states talks are expected to focus primarily on boosting economic economic trade military and energy energy ties several agreements expected to come out of a trip within large contracts for the sale of military technology this is live near putin's first visit to the south asian area since his return to the kremlin that. last week europe witness yet another wave of protests in two of the country's worst affected by the continent's debt crisis a new wave of a new austerity drive by the spanish government drove thousands into the streets of madrid in protest demonstrators called it a budget of hunger and misery and held

a mock funeral for the country's finances meanwhile wednesday a twenty four hour general strike in the greek capital athens left public services and transportation paralyzed this is four of the country's biggest banks declared they would need a twenty seven billion euro handout to stay afloat crisis strategist gonzalo euro says despite all efforts european nations still haven't solved their basic problems . right now. you know national community b i have nothing to be an easy have wars austerity which makes investors happy but of course makes the people and the best community is relatively happy because you know there was greater safeguards that their money is going to the terms game. so i think that you going to continue to see this where eels go up and the people are happier but the investor community is less happy and then you can have words to the right where you have more austerity making people more angry and more riots and more protests and more

stripes and yet investors feeling more secure in in in the bonds that they buy and greets you have to keep in mind these prices. it's far from over here he ends up yet to solve the basic problem that the european peripheral countries are insolvent ace simply do not have the money to pay back all the money that they have borrowed and because of that which is in comfortable we are going to come to a day of reckoning some point you should become when the going to happen and how far will the european bureaucrats be will be kicked the can down the road. about two years ago this month the arab spring emerged in tunisia but few could have predicted where it would lead including those who headed the uprising or to renege lucia reports now on those the revolution may have left behind. it began here in tunisia two years ago when a poverty stricken first vendor set himself on fire in an act of desperation some say he was a hero others say he was a drunkard with

a history of psychological problems whatever more hala was this is real motivation was his act of self-immolation set up a string of events which became known as the arab spring decades old regimes were toppled what came to replace them is hardly what most of the people in these countries had in mind when they were doing the revolutions they wanted freedom of speech and free elections bread on their tables and jobs what they got seems to be a very different result situation as for strike comparison to. comparison to the years before. the revolution personally i don't feel safe. when we see. all the violence of the police. or of. our. ever unpoliced attack by some monstrous people.

there are less freedoms right now when it comes to under their own freedoms there are attacks on individual freedoms every day i received so many messages from girls saying but they were. straight even by police men. who didn't tolerate their or their way off dressing this used to be a common pattern in the countries that i shared the so-called arab spring just two years ago hopes of transition from authoritarian regimes to new democratic forms of government seem to have altered rising islamism economies in shambles and increasing discontent the pattern is the same in tunisia and egypt where people are pouring out on the streets again with the new. sest a lot of people did vote for the muslim brotherhood in egypt did so because they wanted economic changes not just getting rid of mubarak or having morsi and morsi

we know he's obviously. a very different political figure to mubarak in terms of his ideology has carried on much the same policies in terms of economic policy in libya the uprising took a bloody turn moammar gadhafi who ruled the country for over forty years was deposed and killed in two thousand and eleven they merely be in government has been struggling to control parts of the country going as far as besieging the entire town of bani walid for allegedly providing shelter to diehard khadafi supporters the are using heavy machinery to demolish these to demolish the houses they can't be using now. guys are going to be born children and now they're really securing with the humanity of the work of the us save our family.

the democracy that the u.s. would like to impose upon egypt tunisia and morocco and the other countries throughout the region and even libya where war was waged last year to topple the gadhafi government is not suitable to the people inside of that region. r.t. . and still to come we are a port on how not everyone will be able to travel home for a warm family christmas a few minutes look at new york's hidden homeless while those around them hang the tinsel and trim the tree. and three new crew members who are just joining international space station crew spending christmas orbiting the earth here their

story after a short break. flying north with me in this old soviet work or so the helicopter is doctors landed near brodsky and his team from the region's medical aviation service we head across evel barren tundra higher and higher into russia's arctic far north until eventually we see our landing spot with arrive at this tiny village after costing hundreds of kilometers of snow we will do this as a boy suffering from fever and the doctors are going to see what they can do. inside a small building not one but two babies and their parents are waiting for us the doctors inspect them but can't make a diagnosis and decide to bring them to a regional hospital for better doesn't like taking her baby away from home but

she's been before and degrees to go that's the usual practice with those who leave and they keep mothers with their newborns in hospital for a month. on the way back another stop to check on the health of some native minutes reindeer herders out in the tundra it can take many hours to reach the nearest village so a medical problem simply fixed here in the tent that i should say used to be but now we can go to civilized places so we call for emergency help. but at hospital other patients helped by the air ambulance are being treated the service costs fourteen million dollars a year to run and there's been controversy with some claiming that locals exaggerate or make up health problems and use the helicopters as a free taxi service accusations that amir firmly dismisses your brother is not true usually the calls are perfectly justified sometimes we even reproach locals for waiting too long before calling us he's been working as

a doctor now for forty three years but vladimir is confident that even after he retires his helicopter doctors will remain a lifeline to the peoples of the russian far north. on the edge of human capabilities. struggling with pain and remapped. layout to become the first. fourth and fall in the. world including. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around the rush hour.